At the end of the three months in Gulfport I was transferred back to Chicago Navy Pier. Training there concerned the specific devices aboard ship that we would service and maintain. These included sound powered telephones, radio receivers/transmitters. Sonar and radar.
Radar circuits and technologies were highly classified and not taught until nearly the end of the course in July 1946. Actually my first view of radar equipment was at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.
Navy Pier was within walking distance of downtown Chicago there were good USO (United Service Organization) facilities that supplied us with tickets to most any event in Chicago at the time.
Our housing was less than optimal. We slept in triple decker bunks. Our ratio of occupants to bathroom facilities was very high. Also the temps in a warehouse like facility could get pretty cold on a windy night in winter.
I was discharged from active duty on July 12, 1946 and immediately enlisted in the Naval reserve for a 4 year hitch. My duties were simply to maintain the radio equipment that the USNR had on the Purdue University campus during my four years there.
Shortly after my enlistment expired and we left the campus, my USNR unit was called up to go to Korea. I missed going there only by a few weeks.
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